Kraken Fleet - Captain Benatar

 Kraken Fleet - Captain Benatar

Let's start with the list itself, shall we? Quick note: If you're familiar with the most excellent Armada Fleets Designer app, then you'll be familiar with the format of the fleet list. If not, then you should know that the numbers in the parentheses next to the fleet name are as follows - number of points invested in squadrons/total number of fleet points/maximum number of fleet points.

Kraken Tank (0/394/400)

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Providence-class Carrier (105 + 43: 148)

· Wat Tambor (5)

· Shields to Maximum! (6)

· Flak Guns (3)

· Reactive Gunnery (4)

· Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)

· Flechette Torpedoes (3)

· XI7 Turbolasers (6)

· Invincible (5)

· Early Warning System (7)

Comms Frigate (70 + 56: 126)

· Kraken (30)

· Rune Haako (4)

· Flag Bridge (0)

· Engine Techs (8)

· XI7 Turbolasers (6)

· Tide of Progress XII (2)

· Intensify Firepower! (6)

Transport (47 + 15: 62)

· Parts Resupply (3)

· Projection Experts (6)

· Beast of Burden (6)

Battle Refit (52 + 6: 58)

· XI7 Turbolasers (6)

Ion Storm

Hyperspace Assault

Intel Sweep

In this week's edition of "No Way That Works," I assemble a Kraken build that is...optimistic, to say the least. It's a Providence on which I've spent 37% of my fleet points by filling every upgrade slot with the exception of commander. And that's because I'm counting on it being deep in the fray, but being able to tank long enough to do some damage while also facilitating Kraken's ability. I'm fairly certain this won't work. That said, I haven't played with Kraken at all, and I'd like to give him a try at some point. But also, this fleet sort of spawned from me asking myself, "Why would I choose the Invincible title for the Providence?" Well, there are times that I'd like two defensive retrofit slots on the Carrier chassis. But more often than not, I am probably going to put it on the Dreadnought just so that I can equip a single Defensive Retrofit upgrade. I started this fleet with a Dreadnought, but decided I wanted two defensive upgrades. That's to say nothing of the fact that I decided I wanted a Fleet Command slot for Shields to Maximum (I know, I know - I'm full of brilliant ideas, right?)

So I kitted out my Providence first, given that it needs to stay alive and I already knew I'd be putting the Invincible title on there. I was going to include at least some squadrons in this fleet, but squadrons don't benefit from Kraken, and I want at least several ships to use his ability. Additionally, I know I'll be weighing down my Invincible with things to keep it alive. So knowing that I won't have much (if anything at all) in the way of squadron support, I decide to throw some things on the Providence to protect against enemy squadrons. I decide on Point Defense Ion Cannons (PDIC) and Fletchette Torpedoes. I can't use Kraken to trigger Fletchette Torpedoes, as he only triggers while attacking a ship. But I am throwing two black dice when I flak, so if I activate before squadrons, I can stop a whole bunch of enemy squadrons from activating in time to shoot me. I also choose Early Warning System (EWS) for one of my defensive retrofits (helps against ships AND squadrons, and all round, too!). After some consternation, I decide to roll with Reactive Gunnery for my other one. I don't see it used much, and I can appreciate why that's the case. But I want to try it out. I don't have a Weapons Team slot, so it's not like I can take Local Fire Control. However, the option for extra Salvo attacks without sacrificing my Contain is very appealing. Especially because I can activate Kraken multiple times around if I'm using Salvo. Admittedly, the way I've built this fleet says that there's a good chance Kraken won't be able to help my Providence much, but we'll see.

It's a fair question to which I don't have a great answer.

This is one of those design spaces I described in a previous blog post: not every idea is a good one, but we don't always know the good ones when we have them. Also, I don't know of any good fleets that sprung from an inventor's mind, fully formed, like Athena emerging from Zeus' head. We all start somewhere. And sometimes, it's a stupid somewhere. Sometimes it's a smart somewhere. But sometimes, it's a smart somewhere that only *looks* like a stupid somewhere or vice versa. We only KNOW what we want to fly, not necessarily how it will work out. So when you decide to try a thing, don't let the naysayers stop you if you want to try it! It's all hypothesizing anyway, so they might be wrong! If there's a flaw in your premise because the rules of the game work differently from your understanding, that's a different situation. But otherwise, go ahead and fly your freak flag, friends. That's what this fleet might end up being for me!

But the thing is that on paper, double Interdictors, Dumpster Fire, Ravager...even if you think you see the potential, on paper, none of these builds are *really* as devastating as they've turned out to be on the table. Build a thing. Fly it. Be realistic about its limits, but if you want to fly it, don't let other people tell you it doesn't work (again: unless the premise is faulty because a rules interaction doesn't work the way you think it does or you misread a thing - no Hyena bombers with Invisible Hand for you!).

Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm putting Shields to Maximum! on here. And frankly, if Kraken hands me an Accuracy on a good roll, XI7 can be devastating, so I take it. I consider taking Quad Turbolaser Cannons for the double Accuracy, but it's so expensive and it's a modification, so I leave it off for now. It never quite makes the cut in this list. StM won't be enough to save Invincible from heavy fire, so I equip Wat Tambor too and call it good.

I love me some Munificents, so I take one. I decide to take the Comms Frigate because I don't think I'll need the defensive retrofit upgrade slot, so I might as well save myself 3 points. I know that'll be my flagship, so I put Kraken on here and also take Tide of Progress XII to offer just a little more protection. I put Engine Techs on there to help keep it out of trouble, but I need to fuel ET, too, and don't always want to dial up Navigate. So I put Rune Haako in the Officer slot. I just think he's a terrific upgrade card. Since I've got XI7 on my Providence, I put it on my Munificent as well. But I get to thinking about how Kraken's ability is nice, but only affects one die per activation. It makes me think I want just a little more dice manipulation in here. So I decide to stick Flag Bridge and Intensify Firepower! onto the ship as well. It's true that I only get use out of it for one round, but it's a thing worth trying. If my fleet is attacking in concert, one round should really help cover me before I go back to relying on Kraken.

Again, I don't think I've built anything brilliant here, but it looks like fun and maybe it could work? I've two fleets I'm happy to fly right now between Imperial Tarkin and Luminara, so if this doesn't work out, I won't be heartbroken. I know I'll need Engineering token fuel for StM! as well as possible for Tide of Progress, so I add two Hardcells. The Transport is equipped with Parts Resupply for the Providence and the Munificent. I also include Beast of Burden and Projection Experts to throw more support to the bigger ships. I think it's too much given that the upgrades basically make the ship a third more expensive in fleet points, but we'll see if any of it sticks. The only ship in this fleet that I've probably built correctly is the Hardcell Battle Refit. I put XI7 on there. Honestly, that's probably not even right. Linked Turbolaser Towers probably would've been better for increased dice control. But, you know...

So! There's the fleet idea! I think it'll be fun to run. I haven't really run a tank in a long time, so I think it would be fun to see how long my attempt will last. Onto my objectives. I went with Ion Storm because I get to place all of the obstacles as well as use a crit effect, which Kraken can pretty reliably hand me. I don't love Hyperspace Assault because it's not an objective that gets me points. But I don't know how much people are inclined to let me send a Munificent into hyperspace only to pop out in their flank. I'm willing to give it a try. And then Intel Sweep. My Providence may not be immortal, but it should easily last long enough to collect 3 objective tokens and 75 VP for me.

It's a do or die situation, man!